“When the game is close we usually win,” said Concordia head coach John Dore. “We had a couple of breakaways and easy steals.”

Although Concordia was coming off a 97-91 defeat to the Laval Rouge et Or suffered just a day earlier, the Stingers’ regular-season win at the UQAM Sports Centre on Saturday was their first since January 2007.

The Citadins erupted to start the game, as star player Eric Cote-Kougnima passed, shot and charged his way to the Concordia net, accumulating 12 points and five rebounds in the first half.

On the Stingers’ side, Kyle Desmarais notched nine points and four rebounds. Concordia allowed the Citadins to wear themselves out, but kept the score close enough to catch up when needed. The Citadins concluded the first half with a 34-28 advantage and recorded nine offensive rebounds.

“I told them in the dressing room not to count these guys out. They are a strong team and won’t give up without a fight,” said Citadins head coach Olga Hrycak. “We were strong defensively, especially in the first half, but they just played better as a team in the second.”

The Stingers were all warmed up in the second half, tied the game and took the lead before losing it in the third quarter. The action went back and forth right up until the end when Concordia poured on 28 points to the Citadins’ 14, 13 of which belonged to Desmarais.

“I think in the second our bench gave us a lift, [especially guys like] Frank Fiola, Taylor Garner and Morgan Tajfel,” said Dore. “[Garner] gave us what we needed; he rebounded the ball, [and Desmarais] gave us some quick easy hoops. Just playing fundamental basketball, we stopped taking chances defensively.”

The turning point came as UQAM’s Alexandre Bernard soared for a slam-dunk that only infuriated Concordia.
“We really locked up as a team after UQAM’s dunk,” said Desmarais. “It sparked us defensively and offensively. We kind of got angry.”

The Stingers dribbled around to kill the last few seconds of the game and held onto their solid 12-point lead.
The Stingers will next host the McGill Redmen on Nov. 26 at Loyola Gym. The tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

This article originally appeared in The Link Volume 31, Issue 14, published November 16, 2010.